The Maple Tree
by Ech0ly
Summary: “When the roots of this forest are twisted and torn, one sapling will have learn to grow between this and eradicate the eternal darkness lurking through the forest.” Rated K because blood and murdery cats. I will post a warning before any ‘bad’ scenes come up.
1. Author’s Note

**Well, hi there. If you follow me, you have have been notified of this story and have noticed that this story is named the EXACT same as my previous one. Let me explain.**

**At first I just had a problem with Chapter 3. At the start it was no biggie, but then my other chapters began experiencing problems as well, such as random bits of text being cut out, a chapter becoming a duplicate of another, or a chapter being deleted entirely. On top of that, upon rereading my story it occured to me that some events do not influence the story as much as I originally intended them to, and I decided to rewrite the story.**

**Or, should I say, revise the story. I tried to change the way that I've spaced things/my regular writing style/etc. upon receiving some constructive criticism from some people. You're really just going to have to read the story to find out what's changed (and, for some parts, the alligences).**

**No, I don't have any intent on abandoning this story. I've planned it for to long and don't feel like giving up on it.**

**As for a posting schedule, I don't really think I'll have one. I'll probably just tell you the dates for which I think the chapters will be released.**

**Well, that's all.**

**I hope you enjoy the new and (hopefully) improves version of this fanfiction!**

**—Echiod**


	2. Alligences

**Allegiances**

**DriftClan**

**Leader**

Hazelstar— ginger tabby she-cat with dark brown tail and paws, with blue eyes

Apprentice, Shredpaw

**Deputy**

Swiftclaw— white tom with a silver muzzle and tail, with light green eyes

**Medicine Cat**

Ashfeather— old black tom with a distinctive white chest and paws, with yellow eyes

Apprentice, Heatherfrost— fawn she-cat with light brown tabby stripes and gentle green eyes

**Warriors**

Stormflank— dark grey tom

Palewhisker— pale brown tom with black dapples

Heroncloud— white she-cat with blue eyes; partially deaf in both ears

Wolfheart— pale brown tom with dark brown markings and a large scar on his muzzle, with orange eyes

Curlywhisker— pale brown tom with bright green eyes

Apprentice, Quillpaw

Patchleaf— calico she-cat with berry blue eyes

Bronzefoot— sleek copper tom with yellow eyes

Apprentice, Maplepaw

Astersong— pretty silver and black she-cat with orange eyes

Leaftail— light brown tabby she-cat with orange eyes

Apprentice, Badgerpaw

Blackmist— black tom with a darker black stripe running down his back. Has brown eyes

Lostear— pale grey tom with green eyes; partially deaf due to a missing ear

Apprentice, Boulderpaw

Fawnspot— talkative brown tom with light brown spots and white feet with blue eyes

Apprentice, Harepaw

Twigcloud— brown tom with black and white dapples and paws, with orange eyes

Scorchfang— creamy brown tom with dark ginger and brown splotches, with cold yellow eyes

Foxclaw— dark ginger tom with white underbelly and tail

Breezeheart— fluffy white tom with orange eyes

Apprentice, Drizzlepaw

**Queens**

Blackstripe— dark grey tabby with orange eyes. Expecting Breezeheart's second litter and the most senior nursery queen

Silverflower— pretty silver tabby she-cat with grey dapples and blue eyes. Mother of Palewhisker's kits

Tallberry— lovely light brown she-cat with dark brown dapples and tail, with dark blue eyes. Expecting Wolfheart's assumed kits

**Apprentices**

Maplepaw— pale ginger she-cat with a dark ginger swirl pattern, underbelly, and paws with frosty blue eyes

Drizzlepaw— pretty light brown tabby she-cat with brown stripes and paws, with orange eyes

Quillpaw— silver tom with a black and white sharp, striped tail, with yellow eyes

Boulderpaw— muscular grey tom with dusky brown dapples and underbelly, with orange eyes

Badgerpaw— dark grey tom with a regular grey torso and black paws, muzzle, and backstripe, with light blue eyes

Shredpaw—black tom with brown patches and sharp amber eyes. Right ear is almost gone and left is is torn at the tip

Harepaw— creamy brown she-cat with blue eyes

**Elders**

Cottonfoot— fluffy white tom with grey tail and yellow eyes

Stumpyfoot— old brown tabby she-cat with a limp

Bluefeather—elderly pale grey tom with white underbelly, and the eldest cat in DriftClan

————

**NightClan**

**Leader**

Flamestar— ginger tom with white paws and light blue eyes

**Deputy**

Doeblaze— mottled fawn she-cat with orange eyes

**Medicine Cat**

Dovestripe— lovely silver tabby she-cat with magnificent green eyes

**Warriors**

Whitepelt— white tom with green eyes

Apprentice, Cloudpaw

Stoneclaw— sleek grey tom with white paws and dark brown eyes

Apprentice, Palepaw

Snowstorm— white she-cat with unusual light grey flecks on tail, with grey paws and green eyes

Brokenpaws— brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Mistytooth— misty gray tom with blue eyes

Apprentice, Mothpaw

**Queens**

Sootspot— dark grey tortoiseshell with black dapples

Leafhop— dark brown she-cat with light green eyes

**Apprentices**

Palepaw— pale tawny tom with blue eyes

Cloudpaw— white tom with light yellow eyes

Mothpaw— dark brown she-cat with a black underbelly and brown eyes

**Elders**

Bramblefang— golden tabby tom with crooked fang

————

**CliffClan**

**Leader**

Lynxstar— golden tom with tawny flecks and green eyes

**Deputy**

Longclaw— grumpy grey tom with darker grey stripes, and yellow eyes

Apprentice, Greypaw

**Medicine Cat**

Swiftstep— grey tom with black paws, tail, and ears. The fastest cat in all of the Clans

Apprentice, Pigeonpaw

**Warriors**

Gingerpelt— ginger she-cat with brown eyes

Apprentice, Honeypaw

Brackentail— brown tom with white tail and blue eyes

Apprentice, Birchpaw

Littleleg— small pale ginger tom with brown eyes

Nightspark— muscular black tom with white flecks across coat, with blue-grey eyes

**Queens**

Paleflower— pale yellow she-cat with grey flecks

**Apprentices**

Greypaw— dark grey tom with black tail and paws

Honeypaw— golden she-cat with amber eyes

Birchpaw— small beige tom with pale brown dapples and dark brown eyes

Pigeonpaw— silvery grey she-cat with dark grey paws, green eyes

**Elders**

Applewhisker— hazel tom with brown tail and paws

————

**BrookClan**

**Leader**

Ashstar— arrogant dark grey tom with white and lighter grey flecks, with hazel eyes

**Deputy**

Ashflight— jet black she-cat with white spots all across coat, with orange eyes

Apprentice, Darkpaw

**Medicine Cat**

Blouderdust— sleek dark grey tom with orange eyes

Apprentice, Shypaw

**Warriors**

Houndfur— dark brown tom

Apprentice, Greenpaw

Acornstripe— hazel she-cat with dark brown stripes

Greybird— dark grey tom with small black spots and blue eyes

Wasppelt— lithe yellow tabby tom with black stripes, seeing through dark brown eyes

**Queens**

Spottedflower— tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Echoshine— black she-cat with a white muzzle, paws, and tail tip, with green eyes

**Apprentices**

Greenpaw— sleek light grey tom with light green eyes

Shypaw— white she-cat with dark blue eyes

Darkpaw— jet black tom with dark grey eyes

**Elders**

Featherfur— silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Ferrettail— fluffy cream colored she-cat with dark brown dapples and a white tail, green eyes

————

**Assemble of the Twisted (Rogue Group)**

Tar— sleek black tom with sharp orange eyes, with a large scar covering his left eye. Considered the "leader"

Butterfly— black tom with brown and yellow spots, and blue eyes. Despite his name, he can deliver quite a beating

Wasp— yellow she-cat with black stripes and blue eyes. About the age of an apprentice

Flit— scrawny black and brown she-cat

Tony— muscular black and white tom. Tongue was removed from a rival rogue group attack

Pepper— brown toritoseshell tom

————

**Cats Outside Clans/Groups**

Casper— friendly fluffy white tom with green eyes who lives across the other side of the Thunderpath from the clan territories. A former kittypet

Tinkerbell— grumpy long-haired brown tortoiseshell she-cat with light golden patches with hazel eyes. A kittypet, and quite a force to be reckoned with

Steel— steely grey tom with light green eyes. Strong as a brick and probably about as smart as one too. Loner


	3. Prologue

**Please do not be afraid to leave reviews regarding my story! Especially if something is wrong in the story (you know— warrior cats, with their weird culture and all). I read all reviews. Literally every review. So nothing goes unread. I value each and every one of your opinions! :)**

**The only thing I ask is that you do not write a review solely to complain about the story. Also, please avoid excessive cussing... it's okay if you do it like once or twice but I really don't like that and I don't want younger readers to see that in the review section. ;w;**

**If you'd like to discuss something with me privately you can PM me. Anyway, enough of my blabbing. Onto the story!**

**————————**

**Prologue**

**————————**

"The kits are coming! The kits are coming!" A panicked Astersong shouted as she burst through the linchen-covered entrance to the medicine den. Ashfeather's eyes widened as he spit the Dock he was chewing out and whipped around. His apprentice, Heatherfrost, looked over her shoulder from where she was organizing herbs.

"What?" Heatherfrost exclaimed. "Now?!"

"Yes, now!" Astersong yowled. Ashfeather quickly escorted Astersong to a moss bed.

"Okay, Heatherfrost, tend to her while I get the herbs." He ordered, sprinting towards the herb pile. Ashfeather groaned. The herbs were yet to be sorted, so he quickly stuck his muzzle into the pile, trying to depict any of the herbs he needed. Nope. No daisy leaves, raspberry leaves _or _thyme. Ashfeather sighed. _Where are herbs when you need them? _He thought.

"Hurry, Ashfeather, they're probably arriving soon!" Heatherfrost yowled, trying to calm Astersong with little success.

"Great." Ashfeather muttered under his breath sarcastically. He turned to his apprentice, who was still trying to calm the Queen. "Heatherfrost, go and get the strongest stick you can find. I'm going to quickly get herbs. You know what to do, right?"

Heatherfrost nodded and Ashfeather sprinted out of the medicine den and out into the woods. He noticed cats stare as he urgently made his way into the forest but he didn't care. Ashfeather has done this many times before, and had heard the cries of multiple Queens as they'd delivered their kits. It sounded more painful than death, and he shuddered at the thought of it.

It must be quite a _pain _to raise kits.

Suddenly he thought back to the one Queen that had died at his paws. Fawnspark. The tortoiseshell who had died delivering her kits. Worse, two of her kits had been still-born. Only one had survived, Scorchkit, who was now known as Scorchfang. Ashfeather grunted. He couldn't have any more cats end up like poor Fawnspark had, especially when the kits that Astersong was expecting were Scorhcfang's.

Ashfeather felt something fall onto his head, making his ear twitch. He looked up, only to flinch once more from more and more of those objects falling. Suddenly he realized it was raining. He huffed._ "_Fantastic." He muttered under his breath sarcastically. Now it would be harder to find and locate scents. He hurried across the forest in hope to find something.

Suddenly he picked up a scent. It was... celandine? Celandine didn't grow in DriftClan territory. What was it doing here?

Ashfeather shrugged. It didn't matter. Celandine would work just fine. He quickly padded towards the herb and held a few stalks in his jaws. And continued searching for his other herbs.

After a while he found some raspberry and daisy leaves. _Great_, he thought. He needed to hurry back. At this point Astersong would be kitting. As fast as his paws would carry him, he darted in the direction of the camp, greenish-brown leaves crunching beneath his paws.

On his way, however, he caught something in the corner of his eye. It was a leaf. But not just any leaf. A _maple _leaf. Maple trees didn't grow here. What was a maple leaf doing here?

The leaf was a dark ginger that faded out to a lighter color. It was huge too. _Huge_.

_What's going on with all these strange plants showing up everywhere? _Ashfeather pondered as he continued sprinting through the forest.

He was about to reach the entrance of the camp when he bumped into a hunting patrol. Quite literally. Ashfeather, being as skinny as a twig, stumbled back when he bumped into the large figure of Scorchfang, who snarled.

"What are you looking at?" He scoffed.

Ashfeather straightened his posture, trying to look taller. "Just trying to help _your _mate give birth to _your _kits, Scorchfang." He sighed. Scorchfang seemed angry all the time, no matter what. And even if everyone in the camp was used to his sour attitude, everyone got annoyed. Especially Ashfeather. Every. Single. Time.

"Well then what are you doing out here?" 

"I'm _trying _save your mate's soul, for StarClan's sake! So please, get out of the way."

Scorchfang laughed but regardless stepped over to allow the medicine cat to pass through. Ashfeather huffed and padded off, looking over his shoulder to make sure Scorchfang and the rest of the patrol weren't chasing him or anything.

After what seemed like a moon he arrived in camp. He heard wails erupting from the medicine den, only to die down. _Shoot._

Ashfeather weaved through the confused crowd of cats that had gathered outside the medicine den, biting down harder on the herbs anxiously. He entered the den to find Astersong breathing heavily with Heatherfrost licking a small ball of fur.

_The kits!_

Ashfeather dropped the herbs. "I'm here! I'm here!" He looked around frantically. "Are the kits okay?"

Heatherfrost nodded, putting down the kit. "Mm-hm." She meowed. "She's done."

Ashfeather let out a sigh of relief and padded over to the Queen. "Congratulations Astersong!" He chimed. "There's... uh..."

"Two toms and two shes." Heatherfrost added silently.

"Two toms and two shes!" Ashfeather echoed as the queen smiled weakly. He looked down at this kits, then back at his apprentice. "They still have a ton of afterbirth on them. Or, at least, this one..." Ashfeather gently poked a silver, black, and white kit. He mewled loudly.

Ashfeather pushed a bundle of raspberry leaves towards Astersong. "Eat." Ashfeather insisted. "It's going to stop the bleeding." He pointed to a small pile of small, lighter green leaves. "If you feel there is too much pain, try eating those."

Astersong nodded, chewing on the raspberry leaves. Although, Ashfeather noticed how often Astersong glanced at the kits from time to time. Ashfeather shrugged. It was a common thing queens did. They were _very _protective of their kits especially their first litter.

Finally they were clean. Heatherfrost gently picked up and dropped two kits, who Astersong immediately pulled closer. Ashfeather gave Astersong the other two and she purred and smiled warmly at her young, who were all letting out soft mews.

"Would you like us to give you a moment alone?" Ashfeather offered.

Astersong barely looked up. "Oh, yes, thank you!"

Ashfeather nodded. "Heatherfrost, since we're not in dire circumstances, can you please look for more of these herbs?" He laid down the remaining herbs that weren't used. "We're very low on these. Oh, and if you happen to come across them get some chervil and tansy, please."

Heatherfrost smiled and nosed her way through the linchen and out of the den to find the herbs.

"Oh, erm, wait." Astersong called.

Ashfeather turned around. "Do you need something?" he asked.

"Oh, uh, yes please, can you bring my mate? He'll be estatic to see his kits finally born!" Astersong meowed excitedly.

Ashfeather grunted but just put on a plastic smile. "Of course," he gritted trough his teeth. "I'll get him straight away. Give me a moment."

Ashfeather padded out of the den and towards Scorchfang and his little crew, Blackmist and Curlywhisker, who were talking about something while eating their fresh-kill. Scorchfang trailed off and shot Ashfeather a glare as he neared.

"Oh, you again." He snorted. "What is it now?"

Ashfeather rolled his eyes. "You're mate requests your presence in the medicine den." He tried to sound happy for him. "Four healthy kits."

Scorchfang meowed goodbye to his friends and shoved past the medicine cat, who stumbled back in surprise. Blackmist snickered, and Ashfeather glared at him before quickly padding after him.

"Your mate is here—" Ashfeather began when the two entered the medicine den, only to be cut off by Scorchfang.

"What do you want?" He grunted. Astersong and Ashfeather were visibly taken back by the dismissal in his voice.

"Oh, I— our kits are born. Aren't you happy to see your children?" Astersong asked her mate hopefully, watching as he came closer.

"I guess so." The tom said, beginning to back out of the den.

"W-wait, um..." Astersong quickly pleaded. "Can you stay? You know, maybe help me, um, name them?..."

Scorchfang rolled his eyes. "Fine. But I'm only naming the one who's even _worth _any of my time. I'm not wasting any more time on these _kits _of yours." He said "kits" as though it was a cursed word.

Astersong bit her lip while Ashfeather dug his claws into the ground."Mouse-brain." He sheethed under his breath. Often, he wondered how Astersong and Scorchfang even became mates in the first place.

Astersong winced and seemed to regret asking her mate that question, curling her tail around the kits protectively and inched back a little. Scorchfang ignored that and stared a a light brown tabby.

"Drizzlekit for that one." He meowed. "Because... Yeah, because it was raining."

He then began to make his way out of the den once more, but this time Astersong didn't insist on him staying. Ashfeather sighed as Scorchfang stomped past him and padded over to the queen.

"It's..." Astersong trailed off. "I'm okay, it's okay... Scorchfang just gets a little grumpy at times..."

_Ha! _A little grumpy was an understatement. "I suppose," he sighed.

They sat in silence for a while until Astersong finally spoke. "Un, Ashfeather?"

The tom's ears perked. "Hm? Do you need something else?"

"Well, I mean, kind of."

"Go on, then."

Astersong sighed. "I... well, I need help naming this one." She pointed to a cream tabby with variant shades of ginger. "I can't seem to think of a good name for her."

Ashfeather thought for a bit, examining the kit. Well, she had chosen _him _to name _her _kit, he didn't want to disappoint her by choosing some random name like Bramblekit or something obvious like Creamkit. Then his mind went back to the maple leaf he had seen earlier. He then blurred out:

"How about Maplekit?"

—————

Ashfeather stumbles into the den, extremely tired. For some reason a bunch of cats had been getting sick recently. At least today he had successfully delivered Astersong's kits.

Or, well, Heatherfrost did.

Astersong had been happy with the name at least.

Ashfeather barely managed to walk across the medicine den to get to the end where he and his apprentice's moss beds were located. Heatherfrost was already sound asleep, and Ashfeather collapsed beside her.

When he fell asleep, he expected darkness. But instead of that, he woke up again.

Only this time he was in a expansive, glowing blue forest, with stars glowing brighter than ever. He blinked at the brightness and was startled to see who was.

_Fawnspark!_

Ashfeather scrambled to his paws in sudden realization that StarClan had visited his dreams. He dipped his head in respect, and the she-cat began talking.

"Ashfeather—"

"Oh, Fawnspark, I'm so sorry," Ashfeather meowed in grief. "I really, really tried to save you. I'm sorry I couldn't help your other kits survive, I really—"

"Hush." Fawnspark gently silenced the medicine cat. Ashfeather knew better than to ignore the StarClan cat, so he nodded lightly, taking a moment to collect himself, then sat down patiently, waiting for Fawnspark to speak.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally spoke. "Ashfeather, well, you know that you're having this dream for a reason, right?"

Ashfeather resisted rolling his eyes. "Yes, of course." He meowed instead.

Fawnspark has a distraught look in her eyes. Ashfeather raised a brow. Was something wrong?

"I have come to warn you," Fawnspark explained. "About a great danger. A great danger directed at this forest."

Oh great. This time Ashfeather couldn't resist. Another one? This was the fourth time. Whenever StarClan told him about a "great danger" in the forest, it never came. Ever.

"Again?" He snorted. "You know that every time you tell me some prophecy or whatever about that, they _never _come true, right?"

Fawnspark got a more serious look on her face. "Ashfeather, I can promise you, this _will _happen. It's inevitable. The clans are all in great danger."

Ashfeather sighed. "Well, what is it then?"

The landscape around them suddenly glowed bright white and Ashfeather jumped in surprise.

Fawnspark's eyes flowed a similar color, although the distraught look was still visible on her face. She turned away from him and looked up.

"When this forest's roots are torn and twisted," Fawnspark began. "One sapling must learn to grow between this and destroy the eternal darkness that will lurk in the woods."

Ashfeather's eyes widened. This wasn't any prophecy like he had been told before.

"Fawnspark, can—" Ashfeather began to ask.

Fawnspark shook her head and slowly faded away.

Ashfeather was left speechless as the once bright landscape around him turned dark.

Then he awoke.

**————————**

**And there it is! I hope I wrote the story better than I had before! ;w;**

**If you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to review, comment, or PM me.**

**That's all. The first chapter will probably be released by Friday.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter One

**————————**

**Chapter One**

**————————**

The kit squealed in terror as the warrior's claws flew down, aiming for his throat.

A she-kit lept forward, trying her best to stop the warrior's attempts to harm the tom-kit.

_No!_

The warrior was too strong for her, plus he was about three times bigger. There was no way she could defeat him.

The she-kit watched helplessly as the warrior's claws sliced the tom-kit's throat, who fell over and gasped for air.

Cats who had crowded around were shocked, hissing and spitting at the warrior. The tom looked at the crowd and back at the kit, snarling, and then dashed out of camp.

Blood was splattered on the ground, and was still pouring out of the tom-kit's throat. The she-kit rushed to his side.

_No... _the she-kit panicked, unable to speak through grief. _No! He can't die! Not now!_

**————————**

Maplekit awoke to the annoying voice of her younger brother, Quillkit, begging his littermates to play with him.

"Come on, slowslugs!" Quillkit squeaked, bouncing about the rest of his littermates. "I want to playyy!"

Maplekit opened an eye and groaned sleepily. _Can't he tell we're trying to sleep? _Maplekit thought bitterly.

Maplekit's older sister, Drizzlekit, lifted her head and glared at Quillkit, who was still skipping around his littermates. "Shut up, Quillkit!" She hissed. "Can't you tell some of us are trying to sleep?"

Quillkit stopped bouncing and frowned. "I mean, yeah, but I want someone to play with me!"

"Be quiet!" Drizzlekit spat.

"Then play with me!" Quillkit responded.

"We _can't _right now, Quillkit." Boulderkit commented, still with his eyes closed. "The sun barely rose."

"Oh, look what you did, Quillkit," Maplekit sighed. "You woke Boulderkit up."

"It's good." Boulderkit yawned. "I'm always up before you guys anyhow."

Quillkit seemed to take that to offense. "Are not!"

Boulderkit lifted his head, his eyelids flying open to reveal his orange eyes, smirking. "Am too." He replied cooly.

"Are not!"

"Am too."

"Are not!"

"Am too."

"Am t—" Quillkit stopped mid-sentence, scowling. "Are not!"

Suddenly Scorchfang, the kits' father, appeared in the nursery entrance. "Will you kits just shut up for one second!?" He scoffed.

Scorchfang snorted at the look of fear on his kits' faces and padded away. Boulderkit shook the loose dirt off his pelt and got up. "Whatever."

Maplekit did the same, although she was pretty scared. _Who can blame me? _She thought. Pretty much everyone thought the same when it came to Scorchfang and his quick temper.

"Be quiet, dear." Astersong, the Maplekit's mother, mewed to her kits. "Blackstripe is trying to sleep."

Blackstripe sighed. "Yes, it would indeed be very nice of you to stop talking." She grumbled.

Maplekit flattened her ears. "I'm sorry Blackstripe!"

"It's okay, dear." Blackstripe murmured.

Drizzlekit grunted. "Fine, we'll play." She agreed reluctantly. "But only if you quit your stupid whining!"

Quillkit's eyes brightened. "Hooray!" He cheered. "What are we going to play? Littlekit wanted to play Warrior and Mice. But I want to play Foxhunt! That's a much better game right? Oh! Or maybe we could play mossball? You know there was this one time when me and Badgerkit were playing mossball, and the moss went into—"

Astersong covered her kit's mouth with a paw, who squirmed. "Hush, Quillkit. You can decide what you want to play _outside _the nursery."

"Play? What game?" A voice asked from behind Blackstripe.

"Can we play?" Another shrill voice asked. Maplekit realized that those two voices were from Badgerkit and Littlekit, who were Blackstripe's current living litter of kits.

Quillkit's feather-like tail, of which he was named after, swept the ground, sending a cloud of dust flying into the air. "Yeah!" He chimed.

"Great, more worms." Drizzlekit groaned out loud. Astersong shot Drizzlekit a glare and she curled back her lips.

Quillkit skipped out of the nursery as Maplekit and the other trailed behind him (Drizzlekit being last, of course, but it's not like anyone cared).

"Can we play Foxhunt?" Quillkit asked eagerly when they got out of the nursery. "Oh, it's very fun! One time I was playing it with Drizzlekit and she hid in the warrior's den by accident and then Scorchfang—"

"Shut _up_, Quillkit!" Drizzlekit spat just as an apprentice walked past. He stopped, looking her in the eyes. Maplekit couldn't stop paying attention to his ears, which were pretty torn. _That must've hurt. _She thought.

"Keep that attitude up, Drizzlekit," he began. "And nobody's ever gonna take you seriously."

"I—" Drizzlekit began.

"It's true." He shrugged, walking away. Drizzlekit hissed at him and he just looked back at the kit and smirked.

"I mean, he does kind of have a point..." Boulderkit began quietly. Drizzlekit whipped around and sneered at Boulderkit, making him stiffen.

Maplekit interrupted them. "Yeah, uh, can we play Foxhunt?" Maplekit begged. She wasn't really going along with what Quillkit said for him to stop talking either; she just wanted to play something other than mossball for the 12th time in a row.

Plus, she was pretty good at hiding. Everyone always laughed at the memory of when Maplekit hid and not even the warriors could find her for about and hour before she came out when Maplekit got hungry.

"I guess." Drizzlekit snorted.

Maplekit often wondered how her sister could have such a sour attitude all the time.

"I wanna be the warrior!" Quillkit squeaked, puffing out his chest.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Drizzlekit mumbled in response, padding away to go find a place to hide.

"Uhm, one, two, three!..." Quillkit began to count and the other kits rushed to find somewhere to hide.

Maplekit was about to sprint away when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Badgerkit shuffling his paws.

"Uh, Maplekit, can I hide with you?" He asked meekly.

"Why can't you hide yourself, though?" Maplekit questioned.

"We both know I'm not necessarily the best at playing Foxhunt." Badgerkit sighed. Maplekit knew this was true. Even if he did manage to find a hiding place in time (which was pretty uncommon considering his hiding abilities), he was always the first to be found.

Maplekit shrugged. "Okay!" She flicked her bushy tail. "Follow me."

Badgerkit smiled widely and followed Maplekit. She looked around for anywhere to find when she saw a bush. _Good enough. _Maplekit thought as she padded towards it, Badgerkit following close behind.

"...21, 22, uhm... 23..."

Maplekit nosed her way through the foliage until she came to a narrow area around the stump where is was clear of any leaves. The bush would probably conceal their scent well enough, plus there were two small gaps in the clusters of leaves where she could see through. Perfect.

"Come on, right here!" Maplekit whispered to Badgerkit, patting the small space next to her just as Quillkit finally counted down to 30.

Maplekit grinned as she watched Quillkit wander around camp, unaware of the other kits' whereabouts. Quillkit turned around, but his ears perked up when there was a short rustle in a nearby bush. He cocked his head to the side, grinning, and pushed past the leaves of the bush.

Even from the distance she was at, Maplekit could still hear Quillkit yowling at Littlekit and Drizzlekit, who were both hiding inside that bush.

"Not fair!" Littlekit squeaked in her shrill voice. The two shes huffed and reluctantly climbed out of the bush. Of course; once one of them was found they had to follow the other around and keep a look out for any other kits who happened to be hiding. 

Maplekit and Badgerkit laughed a bit when suddenly the bush shook violently. Maplekit and Badgerkit exchanged surprised glances as Quillkit whipped around and rushed toward the shrub.

"Shh, stay low!" Maplekit whispered, crouching down to try and stay hidden by the leaves. Badgerkit tried to do the same but his head was barely down when Quillkit spilt the branches.

"Ha!" He triumphed. "Found you, Badgerkit!"

Badgerkit and Quillkit stood in a moment of silence while Maplekit held her breath, still hidden by the leaves.

"What is it?" Quillkit asked Badgerkit, still laughing a little.

"Oh, uh, I—" he began, quickly glancing at Maplekit. "You know what, never mind!" Badgerkit climbed out of the bush and followed Quillkit to find the others.

"Now where are Maplekit and Boulderkit?" Maplekit could hear Quillkit mutter. She couldn't help but let out a snicker. _He didn't notice!_

"Uh, maybe check near that tree?" Littlekit suggested. "That's where he usually hides..."

Quillkit was about to take a step forward before Drizzlekit put a paw in front of Quillkit, stopping him.

"Hey!" Quillkit glared at Drizzlekit. "What's your problem?"

"There's no need to search for him there." Drizzlekit explained. Littlekit and Quillkit exchanged confused looks before Drizzlekit sighed. "He's going to fall out soon," she predicted.

"When, then?" Littlekit asked sarcastically.

"Um, in about 3... 2... anddd 1."

Right on cue, Boulderkit came tumbling out of the tree and landing flat on his stomach. The kits (including Maplekit, from her shelter in the bush) laughed and Boulderkit glared at them.

"Now we just need to find Maplekit!" Quillkit looked around, eager to find his sister. Maplekit crouched lower in the bushes to avoid being caught and giggled.

Suddenly there was movement from a nearby den. Quillkit looked over his shoulder, smirking, and crouched, ready to pounce on whatever was in it.

Drizzlekit's eyes widened. Maplekit noticed and raised a brow. _What's she so worried about? _Maplekit wondered.

"U-uh, Quillkit, I don't think you should—" Drizzlekit began, only to be cut off when Quillkit lept forward and tumbled into the den.

Maplekit waited a moment to see her littermates' and the other kits reactions. She expected amusement or laughter, but instead they all looked rather terrified. Littlekit backed up and scrambled to hide behind her brother while Boulderkit and Drizzlekit just sat there with horrified expressions. 

"What's going on over there?" Maplekit muttered under her breath, quickly getting out of the bush.

"Hey, um, guys, it's me, I was hiding in the bush." Maplekit said to the others. They paid no attention to her and Maplekit followed their gaze, but she could barely look at whatever they were staring at when suddenly Quillkit flew out of whatever it was he was looking in and smashed his head against the Highledge. The others gasped in fear, and Hazelstar, Swiftclaw, and a few other warriors gasped and looked at the chaos.

Maplekit sniffed the air. It was a jumble of scents. That's when she realized what happened.

Quillkit was looking in the _warrior's _den. Where Scorchfang was.

Scorchfang stomped out of the den and towards Quillkit, who shrieked in horror and he tried to get away.

Astersong poked her head out of the nursery and her large, round eyes seemed to grow even bigger as she rushed towards her kits.

"Dear StarClan, Scorchfang, stop!" She yowled desperately.

Scorchfang didn't seem to hear as he rose his paw in the air and other cats watched horrifically.

_Claws!_

Maplekit rushed out, tugging on Scorchfang's hind leg. "Dad, no!" She screeched.

"Get away you little punk." Scorchfang kicked back and sent Maplekit tumbling backwards.

"Scorchfang!" Swiftclaw yowled.

"Stop this nonsense!" Hazelstar demanded, with Scorchfang still ignoring every word, his only focus on his terrified son.

"You need to be taught a lesson, you little—" Scorchfang began. He stopped himself. "Let's just get this over with."

His paw flew down and everyone watched helplessly as Quillkit's throat was sliced open and blood splattered on the ground.

The crowd which was watching had gasped in horror and Swiftclaw lept our of the crowd to pounce on Scorchfang and restrain him. Astersong padded forward and looked at the kit, who was now a bloody mess of fur. Maplekit rushed forward and looked down at her brother.

"Quillkit!" She shreiked.

Quillkit responded with inaudible stutters and groans of pain. Ashfeather and Heatherfrost rushed out of the medicine den to tend to the kit.

Maplekit couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Not only did Quillkit just got his throat sliced open, but this was almost exactly like her dream.

**————————**

**A/N:**

**I am so, SO sorry for how inactive I've been recently. I have to rewrite pretty much the entire plot because of the incident Quillkit had in the story. thing. Personally, he's my favorite character to write about and it was hard for me to force myself to write this tragedy out for him. ;w;**

**Anyways, please ignore any spelling mistakes. I profreaded and edited it thoroughly, but no matter what I do the auto-correction on my phone refuses to stop "correcting" every other word I write.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**• Echiod • **


End file.
